


Clue -- Duh!

by Cat_Moon



Series: Half Breed: Season Two [19]
Category: Moonlight (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-09
Updated: 2014-11-09
Packaged: 2018-02-24 17:25:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2589929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Moon/pseuds/Cat_Moon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Shane finally got a clue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Clue -- Duh!

**Author's Note:**

> Coming in at about 1500 words, this story was written for a "Champagne Challenge" on a fan forum. Cluedo.

  
  
An unusually subdued Josef Konstantin arrived at Kostan Industries and headed for his office. No greeting; he didn’t even ask if he had any messages, his secretary Bonnie noticed. He just walked into his office and closed the door.  
  
Duty called however, despite her boss’s mood. She’d seen just about all of them over the years of her employ. Bonnie got up from her desk and went over to his door, knocking softly.  
  
“Come.”  
  
She entered the office. Josef was behind his desk, looking a bit shell shocked. Her grandfather had been in The War, so she recognized the look.  
  
Bonnie held out his paper, just like she did every day.  
  
“That’s not the Wall Street Journal,” Josef noted of the neatly folded L.A. Times in her hand.  
  
“Um, yes I know, sir, but this one was delivered special for you. I thought you’d requested it.”  
  
Josef took it out of her hands gingerly, cautiously, as if it was a snake that might bite him any moment. “Thank you, Bonnie, that will be all.”  
  
XXX  
  
After his secretary left, Josef stared at the paper a long time, recent memories playing through his mind. The words he’d blurted, in frustration and anger…  
  
 _What do I have to do, take out an ad in the paper, put it on a billboard? I’m in love with you._  
  
And today, the answer had come in a billboard, declaration before the city of Los Angeles that he still had no idea how to handle. It was understandable that he was reluctant to open the newspaper now.  
  
Challenges, deals, difficulties, passion, anger, hunger… Josef was well familiar with most feelings and the things that caused them. This simple one however, was one he wasn’t prepared for. Mick wasn’t the only one who had been lacking in real happiness, it’s just that Josef had long accepted and was content with what he _did_ have. Well, up until a few months ago, that is…  
  
Bracing himself, he unfolded the newspaper. He was saved from having to scan the contents for ads of declaration (would it be in the comic section? The announcements? Or perhaps the obits) when a piece of paper that had been tucked inside fluttered onto the desk. Opening it, Josef read the short message there, written in Shane’s handwriting.  
  
GO TO THE PAGE MUSEUM. SEE THE ICE CREAM MAN THERE.  
  
“What the hell?” he murmured. Solving mysteries was Mick’s department, not his. A bit leery of the adventure he was about to embark upon and its conclusion as well, he cancelled his appointments and left the office.  
  
XXX  
  
It was a location Josef was very familiar with, as he frequently made good use of the Tar Pits outside the museum. That being the case, he was quite sure there was no ice cream man inside. Never the less, feeling foolish and excited both, he combed every inch of the area – only to finally find what he was looking for, outside. On the sidewalk on Wilshire, in front of the museum, was an ice cream cart.  
  
Embarrassment was another emotion Josef rarely felt. He wasn’t entirely thrilled to feel it now, as he went up to the man behind the cart.  
  
“What can I get you?” the man prompted when Josef didn’t speak.  
  
“Uh… I’m supposed to ‘see the ice cream man’?” he ventured, feeling like an idiot.  
  
“Oh,” the man said in recognition. He reached inside the portable freezer and produced an envelope, handing it to Josef.  
  
When no future information was forthcoming from the man, Josef took the envelope and turned away to open it. Inside was another note.  
  
FIND THE WATERING CAN.  
  
“What the hell?!!” Josef exclaimed. _I’m going to kill him._  
  
XXX  
  
This time it didn’t take Josef as long to find the specified item. On the grounds near one of the excavation sites was a metal watering can.  
  
“Now what am I supposed to do with this?!” Josef muttered to himself. And why was Shane sending him on this wild goose chase? The only thing he could think of was to reach inside the can. Sure enough, he found another note. If this led to yet another bizarre clue, he might have to get his brick. He hoped the conclusion of this little romp wasn’t going to be something overly mushy or sickeningly romantic. That had never been their style. For the first time he wondered what the most recent change in their relationship meant for them…and maybe gained some insight into why Shane was so reluctant to change the status quo. Would they lose what they already had? Or would it change nothing at all?  
  
He ripped open the envelope and took out the note. It held only an address. One Josef was very familiar with – he should be, since it was the address of Kostan Industries.  
  
All this, just to send him right back where he started from?  
  
He hoped that wasn’t a portent for their future.  
  
XXX  
  
When Josef arrived back at the office, his secretary was no longer at her desk. There was someone in his office however; the familiar presence he could sense from a mile away.  
  
He opened the door and stepped inside, closing it softly behind him. His desk chair was turned around so that its occupant was facing the window, and all Josef saw was the back of the chair.  
  
“Y’know,” a voice drawled casually. “I was originally going to continue with my plans to fly to Alaska earlier today.” Shane swiveled the chair around so that he was facing Josef. “I finally realized you’d be pissed off if I did that.”  
  
The first sight of him since… _since_ disrupted Josef’s nerve endings in a way it never had before, although he fought to remain outwardly nonchalant. There was silence for a long time, as the two of them just looked at each other, as if neither quite knew what to say now. Only their eyes did, swimming with emotion.  
  
Josef made his feet move, carrying him closer until he was leaning his butt against the desk next to his chair. Run off to Alaska without facing him? No, he would have not been pleased. _And they say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks._ The thought was in character, but perhaps the fact that he didn’t say it aloud wasn’t.  
  
“Good,” Josef finally managed, his lips hinting at a smile. “Because I got myself a brick with your name on it.”  
  
“Huh??” Shane asked in confusion.  
  
Josef reached over to the briefcase on the desk, opened it and took out an item that he held up. It was exactly what he said it was – a brick with Shane’s name printed on it. “I figured I’d keep it on hand, so the next time you act particularly dense I can hit you upside the head with it.”  
  
  
  
Shane shook his head slightly. “You hit me with that thing, I _will_ beat the crap out of you,” he warned seriously, although his eyes were dancing with mirth.  
  
“So tell me, what was this little scavenger hunt all about?” Josef asked then.  
  
Shane grinned. “Hmm… well, let’s see… You ran around chasing cryptic instructions, struggled to figure out obscure clues and make sense of it all, maybe felt confused, annoyed, and a bit foolish?” he guessed perfectly. “Now you know how I felt these past few months.”  
  
Falling back into the old familiar banter felt comfortable, safe, like nothing had changed. But Josef didn’t want to feel that way. Instead of responding, in any way, he decided to say nothing, just wait silently.  
  
Shane rose to his feet, drawing Josef into an embrace. “Hey,” he whispered in a belated, hesitant greeting.  
  
“Hey,” Josef answered in a voice that he hoped didn’t found as shy to Shane as it did to his own ears. In that moment, he felt like he could happily stay in those arms forever. “I’m sorry.”  
  
“I was only teasing,” Shane dismissed the need for apology.  
  
Then he was being thoroughly kissed, as if Shane had sensed that he’d had one insane moment of insecure panic at the words, thinking perhaps he meant the whole thing was just a joke. What this man could reduce him to _really_ annoyed him… but then he supposed that was what attracted him as well.  
  
“What now?” he said when their lips finally separated.  
  
He felt Shane shrug. “I finally got a clue, huh? The rest we’ll figure out together.” And then he gave Josef what he wanted, needed, and had waited several lifetimes for. He said the words directly to him, in person, whispering them in his ear.  
  
“Yes, I’m in love with you.”  
  
  
The end  
4/25/09


End file.
